Tobacco rack



Aug. 4, 1964 filed y ll, 1962 26 2a 32 /4 unlLmLi T. J. DANFORD ETTOBACCO RACK 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 g- 1964 T. J. DANFORD E1'AL 3,143,370

TOBACCO RACK Filed May 11, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 I l m E M EEE /a Fig. 5

Aug. 4, 1 4 T. J. DANFORDJE ETITAL TOBACCQ: RACK 4 Sheets-Sheerl: 42

Filed May 11, 1962 no V PIC-3.7

FIGJO FIG-8 United States Patent 3,143,370 TQBACCO RACK Tiras J.Danford, 1127 Rosewood Ava, Rocky Mount, N.C., and Joseph J. Harrington,Lewiston, Nil. Filed May 11, 1962, Ser. No. 193,955 1 Claim. (Cl.'2945.5)

This invention generally relates to a new and improved tobacco rack.More particularly this invention relates to a novel tobacco rack whichmaintains tobacco leaves in a packed as opposed to a loose condition.

For a hundred years the most common method of drying and curing tobaccoleaves has been to arrange the tobacco leaves in loose arrays (e.g. tiedto a stick) and then suspend these arrays in a barn-like structure for asubstantial period of time so that Warm or heated air (under natural orforced draft) could pass through, around and into intimate contact wtihsuch leaves. However, this method is slow, requires considerable handlabor and is diihcult to control.

Within recent years considerable experimentation has been carried out tofind Ways and means for simplifying the tobacco curing process. Onemethod which has been developed involves packing a fairly large quantityof leaves closely together in bundles and then forcing suitablyconditioned air or gas through the leaves. This method holds promise ofnumerous efiiciencies, economies and advantages in the curing oftobacco. However, the diiferent techniques involved in the preparationof tobacco leaves for such process have created the need for specialapparatus which will expedite the implementation of the process. Forexample, the leaves must be retained in very close contact; they must beprotected from excessive handling after curing has been effected; andthey must be easily removable from the curing chamber. In response tothese requirements the invention has been developed.

It is therefore a primary object of this invention to provide a tobaccorack which is adapted to retain tobacco leaves in a closely packedrelationship.

it is another object of this invention to provide a tobacco rack whichis particularly adapted to hold tobacco leaves along the wider portionof the leaves, thereby allowing them to be held in a more compactrelationship than if held together by the bulkier stems.

It is another object of this invention to provide a to bacco rack whichallows the tobacco leaves to be retained in a vertical position and insubstantially close contact with each other.

It is an additional object of this invention to provide a tobacco rackwhich may be easily filled with tobacco leaves in an orderly fashion byeven casual and unskilled labor. More particularly, this object isfacilitated by the arrangement wherein leaves need not be individuallyplaced on the rack nor secured in selected groups prior to being placedin the rack.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a to bacco rack whichis particularly adapted for use in forced draft tobacco curing or dryingprocesses.

In general, this invention has as its object the provision of a rackwhich is durable, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to maintain andconveniently handled.

In its broadest concept, the present invention relates to a rack fortobacco leaves comprising in combination:

(a) Two spaced apart end sections disposed in a substantially parallelrelationship;

(1)) Each of said end sections having a substantially rectangularconfiguration, comprising two upper corners and two lower corners;

(c) Two elongated connecting members extending between the opposed lowercorners of said twoend sections;

(d) A plurality of leaf piercirn fingers arranged in substantially thesame plane and each piercing finger being ice long enough to pierce alltobacco leaves disposed on said elongated connecting members and betweensaid two end sections;

(e) The upper ends of said plurality of leaf piercing fingers all beingjoined to a common elongated rod;

(f) Each end of said elongated rod being normally seated in portions ofsaid end sections which are intermediate the upper corners and inapproximately the same plane therewith; and

(g) Means for detachably engaging the ends of said elongated rod withportions of said end sections.

The invention may be more clearly understood by referring to thedrawings wherein one specific embodiment of the rack of this inventionis shown and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a erspective view of this embodiment showing one tobaccoleaf arranged in the rack;

FlGURE 2 is a cross section of the elongated rod shown in FIGURE 1, andone preferred locking means;

FIGURE 3 is an elevation view showing how the assembled rack wouldappear when mounted in a curing chamber;

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of several of the assembled racks as they willappear when placed within a curing chamber;

FIGURE 5 is an end view showing how three tobacco racks would appearwhen placed within a curing chamher and filled with tobacco leaves;

FlGURE 6 is a perspective view of another embodiment of this invention;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged fragmentary view illustrating one possible typeof pivotal means for the end section of the rack;

FIGURE 8 is a diagrammatic sketch illustrating the three pointarrangement used in the construction of the rack of this invention;

FEGURES 9 and 10 are endwise cross sectional views of racks filled withtobacco leaves illustrating how adjacent racks cooperate with oneanother when placed in abutting relationship in a tobacco dryingchamber.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, the bottom portion of the tobacco rack isseen to consist of two elongated connecting members 16 and 18 (e.g.channel sections) which are parallel to each other and form a supportingsurface for a tobacco leaf T. The ends of members 16 and 13 areconnected to the lower corners of end sections 1t) and 12, as bywelding. Sections ill and 12 each have an essentially rectangularconfiguration and are substantially parallel to each other andperpendicular to the members 16 and 18.

The end sections 10 and 12 have perpendicularly extending flangeportions 46, 42, 36 and 38 extending from the lower corner to the uppercorner. These flanges extend outwardly away from the area between theend sections. The function of these flanges will be explained in greaterdetail in conjunction with FIGURES 3 and 4.

Along the upper edges of end sections Ill and 12 there are providedseats or notches 52 and 54. Holes 44, 4s, 48 and 5% are provided belowor adjacent to the perimeter of seats or notches 52 and 54. Seats ornotches 52 and 54 are adapted to receive an elongated rod which as shownin FIGURE 2 consists of a pipe 14 having a plurality of downwardlyextending leaf piercing fingers 26 which are parallel to each other andpositioned in a plane extending diametrically through the pipe 14. Thepipe 14 preferably is provided with a plate 26 which is located adjacentone end of the pipe and which may be welded or attached by othersuitable means. This plate 26 extends laterally far enough so that itcontacts the upper edge of the end section 10 on both sides of the seator notch 52, thereby preventing rotation of the pipe 14 relative to theend section 10. While a plate 26 is shown on one end of the pipe only,it

should be understood that if conditions so warranted, it would involveno invention to fix a similar plate at the corresponding location on theother end of the pipe 14. A means for detachably engaging the ends ofthe elongated rod with the end sections is shown, by way of example, inFIGURE 2. It essentially consists of axially movable hooks 22 and 24which are adapted to engage holes 44, 46, 48 or 50. Limited axial orlongitudinal movement of the hooks 22 and 24 with respect to the pipe 14is achieved by connecting the inner ends of hooks 22 and 24 to springs28 and 31) respectively, and springs 28 and 313 are in turn connected bya wire 32. By the use of this construction the hooks 22 and 24 may bemanually pulled outwardly (against the force of springs 28 and 31)) tothe positions 22a and 24a, thereby allowing the pipe 14 to more easilyfit into the seats or notches 52 and 54. After the pipe 14 has beenproperly positioned within the seats 52 and 54, the hooks may bereleased from the positions indicated by positions 22a and 24a and theinwardly turned ends of hooks 22 and 24 can then be engaged with two ofthe holes 44, 46, 48, 50. Such engagement prevents the pipe 14 frommoving the seats or notches 52 and 54. When the pipe 14 is fastened inthis position the fingers 20 will be extending downwardly until theirpoints are about midway between members 16 and 18.

To use the rack, the piercing assembly shown in FIG- URE 2 is of courseremoved so that the tobacco leaves can be stacked on the members 16 and18 and between the end plates and 12 until this area is substantiallyfilled. The tobacco leaves are preferably placed so that all of thestems will protrude from the same side of the rack, but it does notmatter which side is chosen. The tobacco leaves may be stacked somewhatabove the level of the upper edges of end stections 10 and 12 ifdesired, since they can later be compressed downwardly. It is preferredthat the stems be allowed to protrude beyond beyond the edge of one ofthe members (16 or 18) by approximately three inches. When a suflicientnumber of leaves have been stacked in the rack the piercing assemblyshown in FIGURE 2 is then utilized to secure the leaves within the rack.As the piercing assembly is manually pushed downwardly the sharp ends offingers 20 are forced through the leaves until the fingers extend moreor less completely through the bed of leaves. The ends of pipe 14 arethen positioned within the seats or notches 52 and 54. The inwardlyturned ends of hooks 22 and 24 are then secured within either the holes44 and 48 or 46 and 50 and a compact portable mass of tobacco leaves isthus formed. After the rack has been filled with tobacco leaves and theleaves secured in place as described above, the rack is then rotated by90 degrees so that the tobacco stems are extending upwardly and theflanges 40, 42, 3S and 36 are in a horizontal rather than a verticalposition. When the flanges 40, 42, 38 and 36 are in a horizontalposition, the entire loaded rack of tobacco leaves can be placed on orslid upon supporting brackets located within a curing chamber. This isillustrated in FIGURES 3 and 4 wherein supporting brackets 34 and 35,located on curing chamber walls 37 and 39, are seen to support flanges36 and 49. The horizontally extending support brackets 34 and 35 alsopermit longitudinal sliding of the tobacco rack.

A plurality of loaded racks may be placed on the support brackets 34 and35 as is shown in FIGURES 4 and 5. It should be noted that during thecourse of the rack filling operation the stem ends of the tobacco leavescan be placed on either side of the rack but once one leaf is placed inthe rack, all other leaves should be inserted so that all stems point inthe same direction. With such a choice, either flanges 36 and 40 orflanges 38 and 42 may be utilized to support the rack so that all of thestems in the curing chamber will be extending upwardly.

Since the tobacco leaves in a rack will be compressed along theintermediate portion which is enclosed within the rack, the opposite endportions of the tobacco leaves will have a limited tendency to divergeoutwardly. As can be seen from FIGURE 5, this tendency to diverge is ofvalue because when a plurality of racks are placed together in a curingchamber the diverging leaf portions of the racks will in effect pressinto contact with each other so that a rather uniform bed of tobaccoleaves is established and maintained. All of the tobacco leavesthroughout the bed are thus substantially in contact with one anotherwith no open areas which might adversely afiect the operation of aforced air draft curing operation. (See FIGURE 5.)

While one specific embodiment of the invention has been shown, it willbe understood that numerous variations are possible Without departingfrom the basic principles of the invention.

Another embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIGURE 6. Thebottom portion of the tobacco rack is seen to consist of two elongatedconnecting members 116 and 118 (e.g. a channel section) which areparallel to each other and form a supporting surface for a tobacco leaf.The ends of members 116 and 118 are connected to the lower portions ofend sections and 112. Sections 116 and 112 each have an essentiallyrectangular configuration and are substantially parallel to each otherand perpendicular to the members 116 and 118 (as shown) when the rack isfilled with tobacco leaves. End sections 110 and 112 preferably haveperpendicularly extending flange portions 140 and 142 so that they canperform essentially the same function as flange portions 36, 38, 4t) and42 described in connection with FIGURES 1-5.

Notches are also provided in the embodiment of FIG- URE 6 correspondingto the notches shown in FIGURES 1-5, such notches being adapted toreceive an elongated rod 114 having a plurality of downwardly extendingleaf piercing fingers 20 which are parallel to each other and positionedin a plane which preferably extends diametrically through the pipe 114.It will be seen that the pipe 114 has a diflerent means for engagementwith end sections 110 and 112. This engagement means comprises adownwardly extending notched member 115 which is designed to fitdownwardly within notch receiving memher 117. This type of interlockingarrangement is well known in other arts and the notched member ispreferably somewhat springy and biased in an outward direction so that(1) automatic engagement will occur by simply pressing pipe 114downwardly when the rack is full of tobacco leaves and (2) disengagementcan readily be elfected by pressing inwardly on the notched end ofnotched member 115. Such engagement prevents the pipe 114 from movingfrom the notches. When the pipe 114 is fastened in this position thefingers will be extending downwardly until their points are about midwaybetween members 116 and 118.

The embodiment shown in FIGURE 6 essentially differs from the embodimentshown in FIGURES l-S in that one or both of the end sections 110 and 112can be pivoted through an arc of 90, 180 or even 360 degrees. This isindicated by the arrows and dotted lines in FIG- URE 6. FIGURE 7 showsone way in which this arcuate movement can be achieved, namely byjoining member 118 and flange portion 142 by means of a pivot pin 160which permits any desired degree of relative rotation. The members 142and 118 can be held in any desired position with respect to each otherby inserting a pin, bolt or the like through aligned holes in members142 and 118. Only one hole 150 is needed in member 118 while a pluralityof holes are provided in member 142. A number of other equivalent meanswill readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art. Providingfor pivotal movement of one or both of end members 110 and 112 permitsmore compact transportation, stacking, feeding and storage of aplurality of racks.

The rack of FIGURE 6 otherwise operates to hold tobacco in the samemanner as the embodiment shown in FIGURES 1-5.

FIGURES 8, 9 and illustrate how the novel construction of the rack ofthis invention permits more ethcient and uniform drying of the tobaccoleaves in a drying chamber. For example, FIGURE 10 is a cross sectionalview of two tobacco filled racks, each rack consisting of four members400, 491, 402 and 403, spaced as at corners of a rectangle. Members 492and 203 usually are provided with spikes extending toward members 40%and it'll. It will be noted that the top adjacent members 432 and of thetwo racks and the bottom adjacent members 493 and 561 of the two rackswill be difiicult to push closely enough together that the formation ofa gastight seal will be insured at all times. So long as there is anupward passage between members 403 and 491 and then between members 492and 400, drying gas will take this route since it is the path of leastresistance as compared to passing upwardly through the bunched tobaccoleaves. Channeling of the drying gas will thus inevitably occur. Inaddition, the type of racks shown in FIGURE 10 suffer from thedisadvantage that they compress the tobacco leaves between directlyopposed parallel members producing a flat final product having creasesor at least an 'undesirable pressed look. In addition, the type of rackshown in FIGURE 10 presses the tobacco so tightly (as between members4-96 and 492 and members 401 and 403) that it is difiicult for thedrying air to pass upwardly through the compacted tobacco leaves. Afurther disadvantage of this prior art type of construction is that itresults in wasted space in the drying chamber.

In contrast, reference to FIGURES 8 and 9 readily reveal that the threepoint arrangement of the racks in accordance with the present inventionavoids the aforementioned difiiculties. With the racks of the presentinvention the tobacco is securely compressed but not between directlyopposed parallel members. The compression members are parallel but notdiametrically opposite. There is less local compaction for a givendensity of bale. Furthermore, there is metal-to-leaf contact for sealingbetween adjacent racks when the racks are placed in the bulk curingchamber. More specifically, FIGURE 9 shows a cross sectional view ofthree adjacent racks as they might be arranged in a bulk curing chamber.It will be observed that the rack comprising members 214A, 216A and 218Aclosely abuts the rack member consisting of members 2143, 216B and21813. None of the metallic frame members of rack A abuts againstmetallic frame members of rack B. Instead, member 216B and member 218Bof rack B are pressed against the tobacco leaves in rack A while themetallic member 214A of rack A is pressed against the tobacco in rack B.This construction insures that there will be little or no gas channelingbetween adjacent rack members and furthermore the drying gas will risethrough the leaves in the arrangement shown in FIGURE 9 more readily andmore uniformly than they will with the arrangement shown in FIGURE 10.

The arrangement shown in FIGURE 9 has the further advantage that theleaves in each rack are only obliquely clamped in the rack as indicatedby the line of force arrows extending between member 314 and members 316and 318 in FIGURE 8. The final dried product of the racks shown inFIGURE 9 will therefore not have the undesirable crease marks that willbe present when a rack of the type shown in FIGURE 10 is employed.Additionally, the three member bulk rack of FIGURE 9 utilizes lessmaterial and is therefore less expensive to manufacture and not as heavyas a four member rack of the type shown in FIGURE 10. Further, thesingle row of spikes in the rack of the present invention involves lesseffort to penetrate the tobacco bale and thereby facilitates loading ofthe rack. With the type of units shown in FIGURE 10 spikes are usuallyprovided on both members 492 and 403 and these spikes extend towardmembers 409 and 401 respectively. These and other advantages exist withthe rack of the present invention.

It will be appreciated that the end sections may be either permanentlyattached to the elongated member or only temporarily attached withbolts, pins, springs or the like. Also one end section may bepermanently attached (pivoted or not pivoted) and the other end sectionmay be readily detachable to facilitate shipping, storage, etc.

What is claimed is:

A rack for the storage of tobacco leaves comprising in combination:

(a) two spaced apart end sections disposed in a substantially parallelrelationship,

(b) each of said end sections consisting of a flat rectangular sheet ofmetal having two upper corners and two lower corners,

(0) two elongated channel members connecting the opposed lower cornersof said two end sections,

(d) a plurality of leaf piercing fingers having lower ends in the formof spike-like points and arranged in substantially the same plane andeach piercing finger being approximately the same length as the distancebetween the upper and lower corners of said end sections,

(e) the upper end of said plurality of leaf piercing fingers all beingjoined to a common elongated pipe which is approximately the same lengthas said elongated channel members,

(f) a V-shaped notch approximately midway along the top edge portion ofeach of said two end sections,

(g) the opposite ends of said elongated pipe resting in said V-shapednotches,

(h) J-shaped hooks having their inner ends positioned within the hollowinterior of said elongated pipe,

(1') the inner ends of said J-shaped hooks being joined to the outerends of two separate spring members,

(j) the inner ends of said two separate spring members being joinedtogether by a length of wire,

(k) the outer ends of said J-shaped hooks each being engaged within ahole located in the side of each end section adjacent the V-shapednotch, and

(l) two flanges on the outer sides of each end section extending betweenthe upper and lower corners thereof, the pair of flanges on one endsection extending outwardly away from the pair of flanges on the otherend section.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS912,902 Sharon Feb. 16, 1909 2,399,786 Caton May 7, 1946 2,523,736Swetlik Sept. 29, 1950 2,808,283 Vickers Oct. 1, 1957

